The Washer at the Ford
by MorbidMythz
Summary: Do not go across the near ford. She awaits you there." It was a warning, one he never should have ignored.
1. 00: The Gaiscíoch Warriors

Prologue

The Gaiscíoch Warriors

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They were the Gaiscíoch Warriors. They were the best. No man could ever beat them in battle. They had just come victorious from Caill. Their plundered goods would be dedicated to Badb after the night's feast.

It was what they'd always done, and it was what they'd always do, because any warrior who kept the plundered goods for himself was to be punished with death by torture.

This, however, was not enough to deter Cíocras from keeping a small golden coin, be it by his own greed or a greater design. Surely, he thought, the Goddess would not miss such a small treasure? Nor would She mind that he pass it onto his young son, Claíomh, who would surely treasure it more than she, right?

In doing so, Cíocras singlehandedly lost the Goddess Badb's favor for the entire band of Gaiscíoch Warriors. This would come to haunt them.


	2. 01: A Goddess’ Anger, A God’s Interventi

Chapter One

A Goddess' Anger, A God's Intervention

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Perhaps it had been because she was so used to receiving the plunder of battles, or perhaps, like Cíocras, it was by greed or a greater design, but Badb was angry with the act. Cíocras had stolen from her, and he had not been punished. The fact that the others in the Gaiscíoch Band had not noticed the act to punish it did not appease her. As far as she was concerned, they had been lax as they searched their fellow warriors for any items.

Neit watched his wife with a guarded eye. It was seldom that she grew so angry, even being a Goddess of War. He too held favor for the Gaiscíoch Warriors, except that his favor had not waned as his wife's had.

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As Neit watched Badb, so did one of her sisters – Anann. As Badb raged and cursed and threw many of the treasures that had been dedicated to her, Anann watched with a calculating eye.

"Sister, sister, you must calm yourself," Anann said, pulling her sister to sit next to her. "You mustn't let these heathens get to you." Badb grumbled out an agreement and Anann gave her a terrifying grin. "These men claim that they are undefeatable only because of your favor. Do you deny it?"

"No," Badb answered. "And they are undefeatable due to my favor, sister, because I asked you to stay away from them."

"And, until just recently they had your favor. Do you deny it?"

"No," came the answer again.

"And now, they no longer have your favor. Do you deny it?"

"No."

"And so, they are now defeatable. Do you deny it?"

"No."

"And so, without your favor, I no longer must stay away," Anann said, her terrifying grin growing wider.

"Do as you will to them, sister," Badb answered.

"I will, sister, I will." Anann disappeared.

Neit watched the two, and listened to the conversation. His wife's favor may have waned, but his had not. He would, at the very least, warn the Gaiscíoch of their doom.

* * *

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Ard tossed and turned uneasily in his sleep. He was the Chief of the Gaiscíoch Warriors, and the one Neit did his best to contact.

"Do not go across the near ford. _She_ awaits you there."

Ard gasped and sat up quickly. He shook his head of the strange dream, wondering it's meaning, before ignoring it, and going back to sleep. Neit sighed.

"His dreams have been closed to me tonight. I shall try again tomorrow night."

The next morning, Ard met with his strategists. They had planned the route so far, and so far they had been victorious under Badb's favor.

"Where are we going next?" Ard asked them. One of them, Aosta, a rather elderly man who did not do much of the fighting, preferring to plan the things behind the battle instead, answered him.

"We shall head to Tiarna. All that stands between them and us is land, and a small stream. There is a ford where we may cross here," Aosta said, showing Ard a spot on the map. Another strategist, Óg, a younger man, who both strategized and fought alongside Ard in battle spoke up in protest.

"And there is another ford here," he said, showing another spot on the map.

"This one is closer. We can reach it in three days. We would reach that ford in three weeks," Aosta argued.

"This one will allow us to come up behind any warriors they have prepared and catch them by surprise," Óg argued back.

"Enough," Chief Ard said, before the two could start a full blown argument. The words from his dream did not even come to the forefront of his mind. "We shall cross on the nearest ford. I don't know about you, but I look forward to getting back to my wife soon." Óg blushed brightly, and mumbled in agreement. "And we have not found any resistance against us yet. There will be none here. Remember, we hold Goddess Badb's favor."

"Oh, but you no longer do, you no longer do," Anann whispered, gleefully, to herself.


	3. 02: Onward to the Ford

Chapter Two

Onward to the Ford

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Shortly after the meeting between the Chief and his strategists, and a hearty breakfast, the Gaiscíoch Warriors moved on. It was slow going, but like Aosta said, they would reach it in three more days.

Chief Ard had no idea of the Goddess now actively plotting against him, nor that he had already been warned of her.

* * *

Later that night, Chief Ard had another strange dream. Another bodiless, male voice speaking to him.

"Do not go across the near ford. _She_ awaits you there. An army lies behind her. Your doom awaits you there."

Ard woke again, but this time he paid more attention to the dream. Still, he passed it off.

"An army, humph. No one stands against us. We have the Goddess Badb's favor," he muttered, before falling back to sleep. Neit sighed again, and shook his head.

"I shall try again tomorrow."

* * *

Another day of marching began. Though he had passed it off as nothing the night before, his dream came to the forefront of Ard's mind as they marched. So much so, that Cíocras, who was marching near Chief Ard grew concerned.

"Are you alright, sir?" he asked. "You seem distracted."

"Hmm? Oh, it is nothing. After all, we have the Goddess Badb's favor. No man can stand against us," Chief Ard answered. Cíocras thought he might have been trying to convince himself rather than his fellow warriors.

Even as the men around them stood straighter, with more confidence, Cíocras felt a deep sinking pit in his stomach, as he thought of the small gold coin he had kept, and managed to hide as his fellow warriors looked him over for kept plunder. But surely, surely She had not noticed the absence of such a small coin.

* * *

"Do not go across the near ford. _She_ awaits you there. An army lies behind her. You must take the farther ford and catch them by surprise."

Ard woke once again. The mere fact that his dreams had used the same words as Óg ("catch them by surprise") was enough for him to pass it off again.

"It's only my imagination trying to fool me," he told himself, before falling back asleep. Neit sighed once again.

"I shall try one more time tomorrow night. If he cannot realize the warning in his dreams by then, than it shall be too late for them."

* * *

On what should have been the final day of marching, they stopped a few hours from the ford, with it just out of sight. Neit tried one last time to reach Ard.

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"Do not go across the near ford. _She_ awaits you there. An army lies behind her. Your doom awaits with them, if you face them head on. You must take the farther ford and catch them by surprise. If you do not, they shall win the battle."

One last time, Ard received a warning in his dream. One last time, Ard woke up in the middle of the night. One last time, Ard passed the warning off as nothing.

"It is just my imagination. We have the favor of the Goddess Badb. No man can face us," he murmured sleepily, before rolling over and falling asleep. It was the last warning he would receive, and just as before, he ignored them.

* * *

The final few hours of marching to the ford began. None of the Gaiscíoch Warriors could have possibly expected the horrific sight they would find there, save perhaps the Chief, who had ignored his dreams and therefore the only warnings they had.


	4. 03: The Horror of the Ford

Chapter Three

The Horror of the Ford

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As they drew closer to the ford, they began to notice the ford's other occupant, though they did not get a good look at it until they came upon the shore of the stream. A horrifying sight greeted them.

A tall woman stood in the ford. Her hair, grey and matted, clung to her face. Her burning red eyes glowered at them, even as she gave them a welcoming grin, showing off sharp, pointed teeth. But even worse than the woman's looks, were the hundreds of bodies around her.

Bloodied, and even a few of them missing their limbs, there were several bodies that had been disfigured beyond recognition. Not even their mother's could recognize them now.

The men looked on in horror, fear, and disgust, as their Chief worked up the courage to ask the woman a question.

"W-who are you?" he asked finally.

"I? I am many names. Morrigu, the Morrigan, the Washer at the Ford." Anann said.

Suddenly the dreams came back to him, their meanings oh so clear to him now. 'Do not go across the near ford. _She_ awaits you there.' This woman, this Washer at the Ford, was the one he had been warned of. The warnings he ignored had come back to haunt him.

"And, dear Washer, where is it you come from?"

"I sleep on Mount Knocknarea, deep in the Cairn of Maeve, if that is the information you seek," she answered.

"And was it you, dear Washer, who killed these men?"

"No. I merely gather the bodies and wash away the sins of men."

"And who then, dear Washer, are these sin-filled men who lay in the bloodied heap before us all?"

"Do you not recognize them? Look behind you, Chief. These are the men that follow you as they will be after the next day's battle."

"Do you think us stupid? Such a thing is impossible!" Ard roared at her. The warning dreams that he had ignored flew to the back of his mind in his anger. He then turned to his men. "Ignore this witch who spreads naught but lies and deceit!"

"Is that so? Lies and deceit?" Anann asked, holding up the Chief's own severed head up for him to see. Ard let out a great laugh, and waved it off.

"Carry on men, for we have the Goddess Badb's favor, and no man can face us!" The men cheered at their Chief's words. "Forward, to Tiarna!"

"Forward, to Tiarna!" the men repeated, as they began to move forward.

"No man, no man can face us," the woman mockingly muttered as they left the ford. "Perhaps while you had my sister's favor, but now that is gone, and you face an army that holds my favor. You will regret your words soon enough."

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As they marched on, Cíocras glanced back, watching as the woman began to wash another body, this one burnt to a blackened husk. She caught his gaze, and grinned evilly, pulling a small gold coin from behind the body's armor, showing it to him, before cackling loudly for all to hear.

His heart dropped into his chest at the sight of the familiar gold coin that he had kept hidden. He alone now knew for a fact that those fallen warriors were their future, but his fear of being tortured to death for keeping the gold coin kept him from telling the others. Perhaps he could escape from the battlefield before anyone noticed. A day later, Cíocras, along with the other men near the back, wondered what was going on when they stopped suddenly.

"Lies and deceit," the Chief muttered, gazing out at the vast army of warriors that stood ready for them. "Liar and Deceiver! We shall emerge victorious! Charge!" The men of the Gaiscíoch Warriors charged to the last battle they would ever participate in.


	5. 04: The Last Battle of the Gaiscíoch War

Chapter Four

The Last Battle of the Gaiscíoch Warriors

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The Gaiscíoch Warriors were nothing more than small pests compared to the larger size of the army they were charging. They were outnumbered at least seven to one. Even so, they fought to their last breaths.

Death was not kind to them. For the few that escaped without any disfigurements, the men or the enemy army would attack their dead body viscously. Cíocras was caught trying to run from the battlefield by several of the men.

"Well, well, lookie what we found," one of the enemy soldiers said.

"A traitor!" another added.

"What do you think they do to traitors?"

"Maybe the same thing we do to traitors."

"Well then, let's do them a favor and save them the time and effort of doing it," the first soldier said, grinning evilly. Cíocras was horrified to see the same sharp teeth as the Washer had. At the first soldier's command, several other soldiers put up a wooden post and tied Cíocras to it. The first soldier came up to him with a lit torch, and whispered into his ear.

"For trying to steal from my sister," he whispered, but it was in the Washer's voice. The soldier pressed the torch to Cíocras' clothes and walked away, laughing in his own voice, and cackling in the Washer's voice at the same time.

Cíocras' screams washed over the battlefield, killing morale for the few of the Gaiscíoch that remained, all except for Chief Ard.

Ard continued on killing as many of the enemy men as he could, moving even faster and more desperate as he heard the screams. He let out a battle cry and charged at the leader of the enemy army.

"Come to your death!" the leader cried out, drawing his sword. For a few minutes, the two dueled with swords.

The Chief would slash, the leader would block, and a loud 'klang' would sound. Then the leader would push the Chief back and slash at him, the Chief would block, and a loud 'klang' would sound. They repeated this for several minutes, until the leader pushed the Chief back, before twisting around and kicking the sword out of his hand. The leader than twisted around again, cutting Chief Ard's head off.

It sailed through the air, landing near a few soldiers, who began to kick it around as if it were a ball. The few remaining Gaiscíoch, Aosta included, roared in anger and attacked the soldiers with the last of their vigor. They were quickly cut down.

And so, the Gaiscíoch Warriors passed, leaving no legacy behind, all because of the actions of one man.

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"My, my, sister," Badb said. "Must you have made it so bloody?"

"But the blood is the best part," Anann said.

"Oh? I thought the screams of pain were the best part."

"Those too," Anann said before turning to leave. "I have a job to do."

"Get me my gold coin back."

"I will, sister, I will." Anann disappeared.


	6. 00: The Washer at the Ford

Epilogue

The Washer at the Ford

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Anann grinned evilly as she gathered the bodies of the fallen warriors, and dragged them to the Ford. As she dragged them, time rewound itself just so slightly, that as she began to wash the blood away, the Gaiscíoch Warriors came to the ford. They stared at her in horror, and she grinned.

"Wh-who are you?" the Chief of the warriors asked her.

"I? I am many names."


End file.
